About Nothing Really!

As I said on Sunday, I'm posting every day now so that I can start participating in the daily memes! This is my second time for Random Thoughts Tuesday, created by The Un Mom.

Today I thought that I was going to blog about Logan's 18 month check up yesterday but it was cancelled - his pediatrician is out sick, so his appt. was rescheduled to tomorrow. Which means my "stay at home mom day" with Brooke is going to be postponed, too. We didn't get to do it last week because my car was in the shop for over 24 hrs regarding the issue I blogged about in my post What's Wrong With My Car?, I actually have to bring it back today to hopefully get the work completed. And the week before is when we were at Lake Rathbun. . .so hopefully we can get back into our weekly routine this Friday.

Friday evening we will be getting Logan's 18 month pictures done at Portrait Innovations. We'd originally planned to go to Wal-Mart because it's the last place in our area to try (we've done Target and JcPenney already) but decided to wait until his two-year pictures and instead go with PI again since we're hoping for a family picture for our Christmas card and liked last year's (we went there for Logan's 6.5 Month Pictures).

Speaking of doctors cancellations, I decided to cancel my physical last week and wait a few more months since I have been feeling so much better since starting the progesterone cream and also I've lost 6 lbs so why check my cholesterol now when it may be different once the last 14 lbs are off?

Cosmo needs to go to his doctor now, though - he's had a lump for the past couple of months. This is not the bump that the vet noticed back in May which she shaved and then it healed - this is in a different place and it's squisher and bigger than the other one. I'm sure it's nothing but I get concerned whenever I feel it, so I'm calling his vet tomorrow.

As hoped yesterday, we were able to go to the park, walk, and play outside. Logan and I also went grocery shopping for an hour - another reason why this age is easy is because I don't have to bring anything inside for him anymore (no diaper, no snacks, no cup). Although, he has started to try and stand up in the cart which is a no-no.

He has started wanting to be read to before bed at night! I think this is so adorable! Especially since he's never been much of a reader (because he's never sat still for long - that one day I blogged when he watched cartoons for 10 minutes was a one time thing, he still doesn't have an attention span for TV). For several months he has brought me books and sits on my lap, but 30 seconds later is off (I always still finish reading the book, though)! Since he's always gone to bed easily on his own, we've never had a bedtime routine so I don't know where he got this idea (my mom said she's only done it a couple of times with him). But now that he's been slowing down, the other night he had me read all of his books 3 times before I finally had to say "that's all for tonight, Logan."

I'm glad that he understands "that's all." I've been having to do that with food the past month - that's how I've been avoiding his temper tantrums since they were always relating to food (mainly, he never wanted to stop eating). Now I give him what he wants but I warn him before I stop and 90% of the time he's content.

Around the time he started "month 17" we realized we were going to have to start washing his face every morning. It's amazing how much goop can be all over a little face! At least it's been almost a month since he's had a cold or virus (I say that because with winter here now that's going to change any day).

A cute thing he's done a couple of times the past week is call Joe at work! I think it's because Joe is #1 on my emergency contacts because it's ironic the two times have both been him (he is middle on my list of contacts and I always use my home phone to call him so he's not on my call log). I've held my breath when I've turned around and seen Logan babbling on my cell phone and I realize he has called someone. The first time I grabbed it fast enough and was able to disconnect the call before I looked to see it had been Joe. The second time (yesterday) I didn't get to it in time but Joe knew right away who it was so when I took the phone he was laughing and said he was having a conversation with Logan, haha.

Logan has also figured out when someone is laughing at him - and he doesn't like it! On Sunday Stacy said Jaxson is the same way. . .it must be another developmental trait!

Although, he likes when people laugh with him. He has always seemed to have a funny streak, I could tell this back when he was a newborn - but it is really taking off lately. So even though he comes across passive with other kids, he has no problem bringing out his sense of humor in front of even strangers. He's in a "staring" phase, though. He will seriously go up to anyone - their personal space - and just stand in front of them and stare! He won't move or talk or anything! It's really cute and funny but the people on the other end always look a little uncomfortable, haha!

All of Logan's items so far can be used for baby #2 except one: his high chair. I recommended it in my post My Recommendations--Part Two . With a son who eats non-stop, it is completely worn out and has stains that won't come out. The seat still looks good so we will keep it for a booster seat and probably within another month or two throw away the tray. Logan ate in a booster seat for the first time last Friday - we went out to eat to a good pizza place I'd never been, Roman Coin. He did really well so he shouldn't have any problems eating at our table, either.

I'll conclude with the news that I decided last week not to renew my membership with the Romance Writers Of America. (This pic was taken of me in 2006 when I earned PRO status) As I said in my post, Hello, I have not had any motivation for fiction writing the past couple of months. Still, when I get the chance, I plan to do my revisions to submit to the editor who is interested in my last novel (the post about that was I Love This Age - thankfully they didn't give me a deadline but I don't want to wait too long and look like I'm unreliable; if you know me then you know that is not a trait of mine). But I've already given myself two years to get back on track once my first publisher fell through fall '07 and I haven't. . .so I might as well not waste $85 a year. I do plan to re-join RWA whenever I feel I can be an active member again so then I'll have to pay $100, but hopefully by then it will be worth it. Also, maybe without the pressure I'll be able to finish writing my fourth and current novel, which I started in early 2009.

It's still kind of sad, though. . .I was so thrilled to be a part of the prestigious group when I joined in October 2005, thanks to my brother's aunt's invitation (she is a best selling romance novelist). I had such high hopes that by my 30th birthday I would be a published author. But that's just two months away so it's not going to happen. Over these past four years, I didn't take advantage of the perks like going to the national conference and meeting all of the celeb authors. I even e-mailed with a few famous writers for awhile and they were so incredibly nice, inviting me to meet them for drinks if I flew to Atlanta in '06 or Dallas in '07 or San Francisco in '08. . .if I hadn't done everything I could with where I was at the time then I would think I was an idiot. But there was really no way to have done things differently. For Atlanta, I was still a newbie, I didn't even know what the national conference was - and I hadn't received PRO status yet. Dallas I paid to go - but then got a refund because it fell around the same time as our move that summer. Obviously San Franscisco wasn't an option since Logan was 2.5 months old at the time and also we had recently found out about his brachial cleft fistula and at first thought he was going to need immediate surgery. For this past summer, Washington DC--I just didn't even feel like a member anymore. I had left my local writers and critique group as soon as the year turned to 2009 so I lost my "in" to everything going on within the RWA.

I am not giving up, I am not "quitting" - I'm just seeing whether flying on my own for awhile will make me a stronger and better member when I re-join. Who knows, it could be as soon as a year from now! But, like I said in my Hello post, I am having so much fun as a stay at home mom with Logan during these short years, hopefully I have decades of non-stop fiction writing ahead of me.